Life with Autism (LWA) is designed to be a friendly environment where many topics can be discussed. We have designed these rules in order to minimise conflict and maximise your enjoyment of the site. We are all adults, and common sense should prevail. Please read the guidelines below, and keep them in mind when participating in the forumsOur site is specifically dedicated for parents and carers that have one thing in common – autism. If you choose not to follow these rules and regulations, we reserve the right to disable your account. While we believe in the freedom of speech & expression, you do not have an absolute right to say whatever you want in this community. Do not set out to antagonise others, actively create or initiate conflict.It is also important to bear in mind that if you don't share someone's opinion about a topic, it is not grounds for a personal attack on that person or their beliefs. Obviously there will be differences of opinion about certain topics, but this should be a positive thing. Such differences provide an opportunity for healthy discussion and enable each person to present a sound and reasoned argument for their own opinion. Respect the opinion of others and their entitlement to express it. Please be polite to one another.The Life with Autism administration team has the absolute right to edit, modify, close or delete any content found in this community without notice. Individuals or groups creating problems within the community will not be tolerated. Life with Autism Team reserves the right as the founders of this site to Ban and Reject applications and membership’s at their own discretion.

Cultural RespectThreads or replies promoting or expressing intolerant views towards members of other cultures, religion and beliefs (race, religion, sexual preference, interracial couples, etc.) will not be tolerated. Please show respect to other individuals and their beliefs (religious, cultural or moral). Do not make personal attacks, discriminatory or derogatory remarks on others or their beliefs.

Personal Contact InformationFor your own security, we encourage members to not post personal contact information such as home address, work address, home telephone number, work telephone number, etc., in the public forums. Remember, anyone could be reading these forums. This policy is in place for your safety and protection. We suggest that all dates, times and locations of private meets are kept off the forum for peoples safety. Please discuss these details via PM’s.Please be considerate of other people’s privacy as well. Do not post pictures or personal details of anyone without prior consent.

Junk PostingJunk posts are posts that do not add anything positive to the overall content in the thread. Often these junk posts are purely for the sole purpose of boosting post or points count. For example, posts containing nothing but smiles, or a few word answers unless relevant to the thread would be considered Junk. Also posting in old threads that are no longer active and have nothing constructive to add, for the purpose of raising your post count. Junk posts will be removed to protect the integrity of the contributing members, this is also at the discretion of Admin and Mods

Deleting Posts and Locking ThreadsThe Admin and moderators at LWA has the right to delete or lock any post or thread we deem inappropriate. The decision to delete posts or lock threads is solely ours. Our policy is to keep the posts in this community constructive. Posts that create an unnecessary amount of conflict and serve no further purpose may be locked at the moderator’s discretion. It is the members responsibility to think of the potential consequences of the post they are about to make prior to doing so.

Copyright infringementPosting of copyrighted material is not allowed without explicit permission from the copyright holder. This is actually the law and you could get in serious trouble if you violate it. This includes images/artworks, and written material. If in doubt, place a link rather than placing the item directly in your post. Remember, the content of your posts is your responsibility and the owners of LWM will not be held liable for any infractions by the membersImagesNude, pornographic or any image that maybe offensive to others are not acceptable. Overly suggestive images will most likely be removed. This also includes flash movies and cartoons.Please keep images to 500x500 pixels or less. If your picture must be large, include it as a link in your post. This will make life a bit speedier for members using dial up connections with slower modems and keep the forums displaying as they should.Failure to keep to these sizes will result in the removal of your image by the Administration team.We promote the use of https://www.photobucket.com for its simplicity and ease to post photos, if you need more assistance please contact one of our team.

Inactive and Lurking MembersIt is a requirment of this forum that your first post is made within 24hrs of joining.LWA members that have not had a chance to come and post regularly after the first post (within 24 hrs) will be sent a reminder PM or email from Admin inviting them to re-attend the site when possible. If there is no response after the reminder the account will be de-activated.Regular posting is a requirement of our community, and members with 0 post count will be reviewed and removed after the reminder email is sent. If you have any issues with this or would like to return it is possible after a discussion with Admin.Lurking is defined as members that sign up and continue to log in regularly (even Daily) but do not contribute. As a positive and encouraging community we would anticipate all members feel comfortable to post when they are online. If your membership is defined as one of a ‘lurker’ you will be approached with a Private Message or email, and a chance to respond prior to Admin removing your membership.

Advertising & PromotingWe are more than happy for members to include URL links in their posts promoting products and services that will benefit the other members of the LWA community, given that the information is relevant to a question someone else has requested, or you believe it will be helpful to others. This includes affiliate and referral links. Blatant advertising, and soliciting for other parenting/autism sites will not be tolerated, and posts will be removed.If you’re a WAHM and or have a business, we are happy for you to advertise on this site after discussion with Admin team. We are very willing to assist a multiple parents venture, but need to be approached prior to active advertising commencing.

ModeratorsLWA Moderators and Admin team are also busy parents; this is a volunteer role that they have taken on to assist with making this community successful. They have the power to enforce rules and act on behalf of All LWA’s best interests. People posting anonymously or using multiple names when they want to cause trouble will not be tolerated; IP details are available to Admin and will be banned at our discretion. Moderator’s decisions are final. Please bear in mind that our moderators generously volunteer their time, so there are limits to their availability, and the time in which they can respond to things at times.We have the right to refuse and ban access at the discretion of the Admin team, if you have any issues with this feel free to discuss this with us.

Private Messaging (PM) SystemAll General rules apply to our private messaging system and we invite you to discuss private details with each other including phone numbers, addresses etc via this mean. It is unacceptable to promote other sites other than LWA through this system, to encourage members to join other sites.If you have any issues with inappropriate discussions coming through your PM’s it will be treated as seriously as a thread on the board.Spamming of members in the PM system or their personal details taken from this site will result in banningAdmin Team are available to assist with any concerns you have, violating the general rules in the PM system will result in immediate removal from our community.

It is the members individual responsibility to keep informed of these rules and regulations, all changes will be highlighted as required.

ENJOY your stay here at Life with Autism – please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions